Vector Network Analyzer for Spatio-Temporal Noise-Shaped Beamforming and 5G applications

天线阵列自20世纪初就出现了。通过适当地组合由每个天线接收的信号，阵列有效辐射方向图(波束)在期望的方向上被增强，同时抑制来自其他方向的信号。动态调整波束方向和形成多个波束的能力导致了阵列在卫星通信和军事应用中的广泛采用。最近对阵列的兴趣是由第五代(5G)无线网络的发展推动的，它承诺更快的数据速率和更好的连接。虽然天线阵列的市场在2008年已经是35亿美元，但5G网络的发展将大幅增加这一数字。抓住这个机会，申请者的研究项目由加拿大研究主席、NSERC发现和NSERC发现加速器资助，专注于开发新型天线阵列，为这一快速增长的市场做出贡献。 天线阵列需要接收器和波束形成器。虽然传统的设计在每个天线上复制接收器，但这种方法忽略了对接收的电磁波(EMW)的物理约束。具体地说，爱因斯坦的狭义相对论规定了一个因果关系区域(也就是“光锥”)，在这个区域之外，不存在正在传播的电磁波。每个接收器都在不经意间用它的噪声和失真污染了输入信号。然而，与入射的平面波不同，噪波/扭曲可能存在于光锥之外。在我们的研究计划中，我们开发了接收器，将不需要的噪声/失真放置在光锥之外，在那里它们被波束形成器过滤掉。这种消除噪声和失真的方法类似于Delta-sigma电路使用过采样来整形所需信号频带之外的噪声的方法。然而，我们使用时空频率空间中的信号稀疏性来避免空间和时间过采样，并预测它们的灵敏度和线性度将显著改善(例如，无杂散动态范围的15db增加)。这种改进可以与接收器规格进行权衡，从而节省(功率、芯片面积、成本等)。预计这样一种新颖的天线阵列方法将吸引业界的兴趣，并为加拿大经济做出贡献。 RTI资金将用于更换我们的故障、过时和不完善的网络分析仪(NA)，以加强HQP培训，使我们的HQP能够实验性地展示他们的新型天线阵列，并在高影响力的场所传播研究成果。安娜是任何射频实验室的关键工具，没有它，大多数射频测量都是不可能的。实验演示在我们的领域中很重要，特别是在处理波束形成器等复杂系统时，其中模拟并不能解决所有细微之处。

Antenna arrays have been around since the early 20th century. By properly combining the signals received by each antenna, an array effective radiation pattern (beam) is reinforced in a desired direction while rejecting signals from other directions. The ability to dynamically adjust the beam orientation, and to form more than one beam, resulted in the wide adoption of arrays for satellite communications and military applications. The recent interest in arrays has been driven by the development of the fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, which promise faster data rates and improved connectivity. While the market for antenna arrays was already $3.5B in 2008, the development of 5G networks will increase this dramatically. Following this opportunity, the applicant's research program, funded by Canada Research Chair, NSERC Discovery, and NSERC Discovery Accelerator, focuses on developing novel antenna arrays to contribute to this rapidly growing market. Antenna arrays require receivers and beamformers. While the traditional designs replicate receivers at each antenna, such approaches ignore the physical constraints on the received electromagnetic waves (EMWs). Specifically, Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity enforces a region of causality (aka the “light cone”) outside of which no propagating EMWs exist. Each receiver inadvertently contaminates incoming signals with its noise and distortions. Unlike the incoming plane waves, however, the noise/distortions can exist outside the light cone. In our research program, we develop receivers that place undesired noise/distortions outside the light cone where they are consequently filtered out by beamformers. This way of removing noise and distortion is similar to the way delta-sigma circuits employ oversampling to shape noise outside the band of the desired signal. We however use signal sparsity in the spatial-temporal frequency space to avoid both spatial and temporal oversampling and predict considerable improvement in their sensitivity and linearity (e.g. >15dB increase in spurious-free dynamic range). This improvement can be traded off against receiver specifications resulting in savings (power, chip area, cost, etc). It is expected that such a novel approach to antenna arrays will attract industrial interest and contribute to the Canadian economy. The RTI funds will be used to replace our malfunctioning, obsolete, and inadequate network analyzer (NA) to enhance HQP training, enable our HQP to experimentally demonstrate their novel antenna arrays, and disseminate the research outcomes at high-impact venues. An NA is a key tool for any radio-frequency laboratory without which most RF measurements are impossible. Experimental demonstration is important in our field and particularly when dealing with complex systems such as beamformers where simulation do not account for all subtleties.